Saturday, November 3, 2012

Honorable Mentions, Part II

The second installment of this series of posts, wherein I point out artists who I've considered for the list and explain why I decided not to add them. These posts are quite important, because the genre of dungeon synth is not for me to decide. I think all of us here recognize what this genre is, and can make our own decisions when it comes to the artists that are nearer to the edge. So this is where I will explain my personal decisions in why I don't consider certain artists to be "dungeon synth," and bring up some artists who I think deserve mention despite being far from that sound.

Nox Arcana/Midnight Syndicate

I put these two in the same grouping because I feel that
they are working in a similar fashion (and also sound very similar).The works by these two groups can be
described as tabletop RPG and haunted house music.The sound is often nearly identical to
dungeon synth, being fairly simple compositions done with keyboards, and with a
focus upon darkness and fantasy.The
reason why I do not include them on the list is that they are often somewhat
too orchestral sounding, and I feel that they also lack a certain seriousness
that dungeon synth has.Even though
dungeon synth is often "hokey" because of that seriousness, the style of these two artists is
hokey in a different sort of way, the intent being more to provide an
atmosphere for fun.And then, there is
the simple fact that these artists seem to have no connection or influence from
black metal or dungeon synth musicians.I think it is from black metal that dungeon synth brought the grandiose
feelings of "high art," the "No mosh, no core, no
trends, no fun" attitude,
which I feel these artists lack. It
seems like these artists come strictly from the film and video game soundtrack
tradition, while I think dungeon synth arrives somewherepretty distantfrom such
sounds. Still, I recommend both
of them, as they make for very entertaining listens (and are incredibly useful
for things like D&D).

Ulf Söderberg/Sephiroth

I included both of these this time because not only do they
have an extremely similar sound, but the same man is behind both of them. I love
these projects. The atmosphere is earthy
and archaic, a ghostly journey into a dark, fantastical, and mysterious
past. It's rare that it ever really has
the "dungeon synth sound," since it makes use of tribal-type
percussion, many seemingly non-electronic instruments, and samples more reminiscent of
world music, not to mention that the production values are much more professional sounding. But the reason why I include them in this post is
because I feel that most of the time the music has an atmosphere and intent
that is identical to that of dungeon synth, just with perhaps more of a world
and new age touch. I highly recommend
the works of these project to anyone who's interested in this genre. It is very far from the dungeon synth sound,
but I think it is absolutely successful in allowing the listener to escape to a
mysterious and beautiful world of fantasy.

Die VerbanntenKinder Evas/Dargaard

I don't consider these groups (and a number of other similar
groups) to be dungeon synth because I feel it is less about escape into
fantasy, and more about wallowing in sadness.
Also, the sound is simply more along the lines of neo-classical, largely
because of the heavy use of clean singing.
I'm not sure if there's a proper genre of this kind of music: dark
ambient, darkwave, neo-classical, I don't know.
I just personally feel that this isn't the same sort of thing as dungeon
synth. Still, the connection to black
metal, the treading in fantasy moods, and the heavy use of the synthesizer earn these kinds of groups recommendations to those who listen to dungeon
synth. I must admit, I haven't given
these artists nearly as much attention as they deserve, so I'd rather not say
too much more about it and speak out of turn, but it is certainly important to
point out how closely it often comes to the "dungeon sound."

Za Frûmi

This artist utilizes synths for fantasy soundscapes, though
the reason that I don't include it on the list is that it is often more along the lines of sound effects and field recording type material, along with dialogue in fictional
languages. When it does come closest to
dungeon synth, it seems much more bombastic, orchestral, and even tribal. Za Frûmi tells various stories, of cults,
vampires, orcs, etc. I'd say that it
would be very interesting and perhaps even moving to any fantasy-minded
listeners, though to me it really lacks the dungeon
feel.

I already knew about the Russian page. I've exchanged emails with the guy behind it, who's been really helpful in letting me know about a number of ds works I was unfamiliar with. Didn't know about the Facebook page though, that's pretty cool.